The conventional progressive wisdom is that the Trump Administration will be bad for cities and for transit users. But in recent decades, a unified Republican government has been better for public transit than a divided government.

An efficient and equitable transport system must be diverse to serve diverse travel demands. Planners need better tools to quantify and communicate the benefits of walking, cycling and public transit to sometimes skeptical decision makers.

The New Hampshire Legislature recently approved a bill that would raise the gas tax in the state by 4.2 cents*. At that rate, the cost of the new tax to someone who drives 10,000 miles a year at 25 miles per gallon would total about $16 a year.

"On July 1, this bill will increase the gas tax from 18 to 22.2 cents, the first increase since 1991. The roughly $32 million in new annual revenue from the increase will be dedicated to state and local road and bridge repairs. The bill also removes the toll at Exit 12 in Merrimack on the Everett Turnpike and creates a commission to study whether the state Department of Transportation is operating efficiently…"

As for how the money raised will be split among the state's transportation infrastructure investments: "The bill sends 42 percent of the new revenue toward bonding for the widening of Interstate 93 from Salem to Manchester, Campbell said. Of the rest of the new money, 33 percent will go to municipalities for local road and bridge repairs, and 25 percent will go to repairs of secondary state roads in fiscal years 2015 and 2016. Under the bill, the 4-cent increase will be repealed in 20 years, or when bonding for the I-93 project is paid off."

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